Information about Lorain

[True_Wisdom]

Wow, so many negative people. If you want the truth about Lorain and Lorain county, I can give it to you in a nutshell. First, Lorain of course is not faring so well, but its twin city of Elyria has a lot to offer. It has a fantastic shopping center(midway mall area), a wonderful college(ranked #1 community college in the state, and has university partnerships for bachelor degrees) and a bunch of great new residential developments. Trust me I live here. So if your job has you traveling to lorain and then a 5 minute drive back to Elyria, that doesn't sound so bad. I can understand all the derogatory remarks towards Lorain, but Elyria is a great place to live!!

[paintballer1708]

Well Lorain is starting to come back. I will agree it is not the best place to live. Now to bash Elyria is beyond my mind.

[joshuatree]

People that are bashing Lorain are not taking an honest look at the whole west side of Cleveland. Lorain and Elyria do have higher crime rates and the schools are rated better in the suburbs; however, most of these numbers are generated by those students who are in the poorest areas of these cities. Lets face it, Lorain and Elyria are much like Youngstown and Warren in size. Anytime, you compare small towns like Grafton, Lagrange, S Amherst to cities that have over 70,000 residents, there will be differences in the crime rates. A city that has over 70,000 and is almost 25 square miles in size, is going to have good and bad areas. Lets not get hung up on saying that a whole city is bad because it's population is 10 times the size of some bedroom community.

The whole Cleveland area is facing a major townturn in manufacturing and consequently, the entire area will suffer for it. Sure, if you move to Westlake, Avon Lake, Bay Village, etc, you will find that their schools are rated better. Why? Because there are few students in poverty in those districts. Compare this with the cities that have sections with housing projects and school ratings and crime are directly related. Does everyone living in Elyria live in a neighborhood with housing projects next to them? Of course not. In fact, you could fit Bay Village, Avon lake, Avon's population into Elyria and still not fill it up. Please look at what is actually happening in these communities and you will find the truth.

[Clarkx3]

Just had to post, as someone born at EMH in Elyria I have some input. Living in the south now I love this board to keep up on what's going on.
Miday Mall for your shopping is definitely NOT great shopping. My daughter was intimidated to be there at times, you never see security inside the mall only driving around outside. Also the major anchor store Dillard's is closing and pulling out of Midway Mall...what that meant I don't know but i'm sure lack of sales etc and not the area they wanted to be anymore. Elyria schools have good and bad points but mostly bad. Graduation rates are below average, crime in schools etc. Property taxes are terrible (I can see if your getting world class schools and paved, pothole free streets for you money) they are curently trying to increase the sales tax, and Ohio is tied with Michigan for overall job loss (very sad) and home foreclosure due to lack of industry. Saying all this I still go back when we visit "home" alot of family and friends are still there. I would think however to help out someone deciding on a move to Lorain/Elyria that is not originally from the area with ties it would not be what I would suggest, you may be disappointed. Just my 2 cents, and even saying that I miss it now and then. Everyone has different views best of luck to you.

[marie0614]

We live in Grafton and work in Lorain. The drive is only 20 minutes. Better schools, nice quite small city.